Night Light | Mid Movies

What is Going on in Hollywood?

Memorial Day weekend has always been big for the movie industry. This year, we were given the choice of Warner Bros.’ Furiosa or Sony’s Garfield. It turns out neither was able to get people to the movies, as this past week was the worst-performing May slate since 1995 and the release of Casper. There has been a lot of debate about whether the industry has rebounded from the ‘20 and ‘21 COVID years, but I’m starting to ask: is Hollywood in trouble?

What happened this last week?

Last year in July, Barbenheimer did extremely well; it finally felt like movies were bouncing back from shutdowns and strikes. This summer is beginning to feel the complete opposite. Over the last 30 years, May has been an indicator of how the box office will do in the summer. It’s still too early to tell, but we could be looking at a summer box office that does worse than in 2021 when we were slowly returning to theaters.

What’s been happening?

Hollywood has been dealing with a lot over the last few years. Obviously, COVID had a huge impact on our ability to go to theaters. Right when things were reopening, the SAG-AFTRA strikes began, costing the industry more than 6 billion dollars.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at ticket sales over the last 30 years:

Why does it feel so stale?

1️⃣ What we want to watch is changing…

I remember going to see every Marvel movie that came out in the 2010s. Movies were dominated by a small handful of incredibly successful IPs. Avengers: Endgame became the second-highest-grossing film of all time, and even spinoffs like Guardians of the Galaxy were doing incredibly well. Spider-Man: No Way Home did well too ($2B), but I feel like there have been fewer and fewer successful Marvel movies.

IPs that once did so well have been struggling lately.

2️⃣ Streaming and distribution…

It’s hard not to consider how streaming has affected Hollywood too. During the pandemic, movies were available the same day as their theatrical release on streaming services like Max and Disney+. Although we’re not seeing this as much anymore, I do think that we’re not returning to theaters like we used to. I don’t think I’m alone when I say even streaming services are getting stale too. Even Bob Iger came out recently and said that Disney is just making too much content right now.

3️⃣ Gen Z doesn’t go to the movies like we did…

We used to keep up with pop culture by going to the movies and watching TV. Gen Z would much rather watch UGC content and scroll TikTok than physically go to theaters. I don’t think that theaters are completely out of the question for them though, but that the movies they want to watch are different from what Hollywood is producing. I think that remaking every existing IP available won’t win over the next generation of movie watchers.

The Big Takeaway:

We’re going to learn a lot about the movie industry in the next few months—right now it feels like it’s not bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels. Things feel stale; we’re over remakes, popular IPs, and the superhero genre isn’t what it used to be. Gen Z would rather watch UGC or independent films. Is Hollywood done for? No, but I do think we’ll probably see fewer huge blockbusters this year.

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